Bhubaneswar: Union Ministry of Cooperation Additional Secretary Pankaj Kumar Bansal on Saturday visited Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in Kataka and Dhenkanal districts of Odisha to review their functioning and assess initiatives aimed at strengthening cooperative institutions and promoting the rural economy.
During his visit to Shree Jagannath FSCS in Kataka, Bansal, accompanied by Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS), Odisha, Manish Agrawal, held discussions with officials on the society’s operations, credit delivery mechanisms, business diversification plans, and future strategies for enhancing cooperative activities.
Kataka Collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde, OSCB Chief General Manager Rudra Prasad Das, Additional Secretary to the Cooperative Department Sangram Rout, DRCS Kataka Supriya Swain, and other senior officials were present during the visit.
Later, Bansal visited Gengutia PACS in Dhenkanal district, where he reviewed the society’s diversified business activities. He inspected various services operated by the PACS, including the consumer store, LPG gas agency, fertiliser and seed distribution system, and paddy procurement operations.
The Additional Secretary stressed the need to strengthen existing infrastructure and expand services for farmers through innovative business models to make PACS more effective at the grassroots level.
RCS Odisha Manish Agrawal, Sangram Rout, NCDC Regional Director Abhijit Kulkarni, DRCS (Dhenkanal) Uma Shankar Das, ARCS (Dhenkanal) Ananya Sharma, along with PACS president and staff members, were present on the occasion.
